2°<J S. VIII. Sept. 17. '59.] 



NOTES AND QUERIES. 



223 



cbeife as would otherways befall y" said Dake, whereby 

 he would be inaevitably ruined. And then (as I remem- 

 ber) M"" Towse tolde me y* y" apparition instructed him 

 •what message he should deliver to y« Duke, unto w«'' M"" 

 Towse replied that he should be very unwilling to go to 

 the Duke of Buckingham upon such an arrant wherby he 

 should gaine nothing but reproach and contempt, and to 

 be assteemed a mad man, and therfore desired to be ex- 

 cused from y® employment. But y« apparition pressed 

 bim w"» much earnestnes to undertake it, telling him y' 

 yo circumstances and secret discoveries w''' he should bo 

 able to make to y^ Duke (of such passages in y» course of 

 his life w<=i> were knowne to none but himselfe) would 

 make it appeare y' his message was not the fancy of a 

 distempered brain, but a realit}'. And so y« appai-ition 

 tooke his leave of him for y' night, telling him y' he 

 ■would give him leave to consider untill y" next night, 

 and then he would come to receave his answer, whether 

 he would undertake to deliver his message to y® Duke of 

 Buckingham or no. 



" ' Mr Towse past that day w"i much trouble and per- 

 plexity, debating and reasoning w"» himselfe whether he 

 should deliver this message to the Duke, or not, but in 

 conclusion he resolved to do it, and y« next night, when 

 yo apparition came, he gave his answer accordingly, and 

 then receaved his full instruction. 



" ' After which M"" Towse went and found out S"" Thomas 

 Bludder and S"' Ralph Freeman, by whom lieM'as brought 

 to yo Duke of Buckingham, and had severall private and 

 long audiences of him. I myselfe, by y® favour of a 

 freind *, was once admitted to see him in private con- 

 ference w"' the Duke, where (altho' I heard not their dis- 

 course) I observed much earnestnes in their actions and 

 gestures. After ■\v'='» conference M'' Towse told me y' the 

 Duke Avould not follow y« advice y* was given him, w'='' 

 was, as I remember, that he intimated y« casting of and 

 ye rejecting of some men who had great interest in him, 

 and as I take it he named Bishop Laud and y' he, y"= 

 Duke, was to do some popular actes in y" ensuing Par- 

 liam', of which Parliam' y« Duke would have had M'' 

 Towse to have been a Burgesse; but he refused it, alledg- 

 ing that, unles y« Duke followed his directions, he must 

 do him hurt if he were of y« Parliam'. M'' Towse then 

 tolde y' y« Duke of Buckingham confessed y' he had tolde 

 him those thinges w«ii no creature knew but himselfe, and 

 y' none but God or y" Devill could reveale to him. The 

 Duke offered M'' Towse to have y^ king knight him and 

 to have given him prseferment (as he tolde me), but y' 

 he refused it, saying y', unles he would follow his advice, 

 he would receive nothing from him. 



" ' M"" Towse, when he made me this relation, he tolde 

 me y* y« Duke would inaevitably be destroyed before such 

 a time (w<=h he then named), and, accordinglj-, y" Duke's 

 death happened before y' time. He likewise tolde me y' 

 he had written dowue all y" severall discourses y* he had 

 had w*'» y apparition, and y' at last his comming to him 

 was so familiar y' he was as little troubled w"» it as if it 

 had beene a freind or acquaintance y' had come to visit 

 him. 



" ' M'' Towse tolde me further y' y^ Archbishop of 

 Canterbury (then Bp of London), D^ Laud, should, by his 

 councells, be y^ author of very great troubles to y° king- 

 dome, by vi'^^ it should be reduced to y« extremity of dis- 

 order and confusion, y« it should seeme to be past "all hope 

 of recovery w">out a miracle ; but yet when all people 

 were in despayre of seeing happy days againe, y^ king- 

 dome should suddenly be reduced and resetled againe in a 

 most happy condition. 



" ' At this time my father Pyne was in trouble, and 

 committed to y" Gatehouse by y^ Lordes of y^ Councell, 



♦ S"- Ed. Savage. 



about a quarrell between him and y" Lord Powlet, upon 

 ■w'='' one night I said unto my cosen Towse, by way of 

 jest, I pray aske y apparition what shall become of "my 

 father Pyne's business, yi'^^ he promised to do, and y«next 

 day tolde me y' my father Pyne's enemies were ashamed 

 of >•«'"■ malitious prosecution, and y» he would be at liberty 

 w''"in a week or some few dayes, w"''' happened accor- 

 dingl}'. 



" ' M«' Towse his wife (since his death) tolde me that 

 her husband and she, living in Windsore Castle, where he 

 had an office, y* somer y* y" Duke of Buck, was kilde, 

 tolde hir (that very day y' y« Duke was set upon by y* 

 mutinous Mariners at Portesmouth), saying then y' y» 

 next attempt against him would be bis death, w"='> accor- 

 dingly happened. And at y" instant y' y» Duke was 

 kild (as shee understood by y® relation afterward), M»" 

 Towse was sitting in his chayre, out of w'^ he suddainly 

 started up and sayd, Wife, y" Duke of Buckingham is 

 slayne. 



" ' M' Towse lived not long after y* himselfe, but tolde 

 his wife y* time of his death before it happened. I never 

 saw him after I had scene some effectes of his discourse, 

 -w^^ before I valued not, and therefore was not curious to 

 enquire after more than he voluntarily told me, w<='» I 

 then entertained not w'l^ those serious thoughts w'"* I 

 have since reflected on his discourse. This is as much as 

 I can remember of this business, w<=i», according to youF 

 desire, is written by 



" « Sir, y, &c., 



" * Edmond Wyndham. 

 " ' Boulogne, 5 Aug. 1G52.' " 



Wanted to know where to find an account of 

 the affair between Pjrne and the Lord Powlet? 



Ithubiki.. 



THE GREAT EXHIBITION OF 1851. 



Among the most successful efforts of this cen- 

 tury has been the Great Exhibition of 1851. It 

 pleased everybody, paid its way, and retired with 

 a large fortune, and made reputation for all con- 

 cerned in its management. On casually looking 

 through a volume of the Mechanics' Magazine, I 

 found the following criticism on the Executive 

 Committee, to whom so much of the success of 

 the undertaking is due (Part 326., vol. lii., March 

 2 — 30, 1850, p. 168). It is but common justice 

 that it should be reprinted, and preserved in a 

 journal to the index of which historical inquirers 

 are likely to turn. 



" But, secondly, the Crown has dealt with the sham 

 nomination by the Society of Arts of certain persons to be 

 an ' Executive Committee in the premises;' as if it were 

 an actual matter of fact, and invested these persons with 

 all the functions and powers of a real executive. It is- 

 much as if her Majesty had, on the recommendation of 

 Sarah Gamp, included Mrs. Harris in the Commission of 

 the Peace. Who are these parties? Are they such as 

 one might expect to see picked out, to be placed at the 

 head of a grand public undertaking such as this professes 

 to be? Men among the most eminent of their day in art, 

 or science, or letters? Men not only well-known and 

 highly esteemed in their own country, but of European, 

 at least, if not of world-wide I'eputation ? Individuals 

 whose names require but to be mentioned to inspire con- 

 fidence, ' not only in all classes of our subjects, but of the 

 subjects of foreign countries ?' Jtisum tentatis, amicif 



